Callaway: A Cub Scout's letter to Monopoly

Feb. 6, 2013
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USA TODAY editor-in-chief David Callaway / Kate Patterson, USAT

by David Callaway, USA TODAY

by David Callaway, USA TODAY

MCLEAN, Va. â?? In the back of my garage, in a filing cabinet filled with yellowing newspaper clips, sit a pile of love letters, to and from my wife, from almost three decades ago. On top of them sits a photo of me as a Cub Scout in second grade, even more years ago, smiling with my class in our yellow Wolf neckerchiefs. Only a few shelves away rest two of my favorite board games from childhood, Clue and Monopoly.

Important mementos, and lifetime moments, tend to fade into history. But some days they all sort of crater together, such as Wednesday. A momentous vote by the Boy Scouts of America on whether to admit gays â?? delayed as it turns out; the decision by the Postal Service to end Saturday delivery for first-class mail; and the Internet-shattering announcement by Monopoly that it would end production of the iron board piece in favor of a cat, all combined in a powerful signal that our Americana is ever-changing, and usually for the better.

All three institutions have changed and adapted to cultural shifts over time, just as we all have in this country. And all are as important to some people now â?? our children and families â?? as they might have been to us when we were younger. A fierce "Save Your Token" vote among Monopoly fans saved the Scottie dog. But it left the iron, the shoe and the wheelbarrow vulnerable. The iron lost out, which would have been my vote. I never liked the iron as a child. A burdensome relic of another age even in the 1960s, it couldn't live up to the romanticism of the race car, or battleship. A cat will replace it, to the delight of cat lovers everywhere, after the silver feline topped a guitar (my vote) and diamond ring to earn a spot on the Boardwalk with the Scottie dog.

We spend a lot of time in this country focusing on what divides us. Big government or small government. City living or country. Ravens or 'Niners. How refreshing to spend at least one morning focusing on things that unite us. Tied together by the Internet, of all things, which alternatively has helped destroy snail mail while at the same time enabling a national conversation on the future of Monopoly.

The vote and online uproar over the change almost ensure that there will be more votes to come, as the thimble, the top hat and the race car join the shoe and wheelbarrow on the Mediterranean Avenue of least-loved properties. When's the last time anyone used a thimble anyway? I'll take a money clip please. And you can take my race car in favor of one of those cool drones the White House powers. A football helmet is sure to replace the top hat in the national psyche. How about a Segway to replace the wheelbarrow? And who wouldn't want a Glock to protect their hotel on Pacific Avenue? Hey, take a vote, America.

Something tells me that the Scottie dog is unbeatable, though. And he'll probably be around longer than the 237-year-old U.S. mail system, which seems to be on a long slide to obscurity despite its latest maneuver. Packages, medicine, certain paperwork, even newspapers, still need to be shipped. But more profitable ways to do it will yield a new set of shippers over time. Vast private networks run by companies such as Amazon or Netflix could be the future instead of a federal service.

In the meantime, our habits and our icons will continue to change. And change fast. Perhaps even too fast to rank a spot in our garages, if we still have garages in the future. This year, my family didn't send Christmas cards in the mail for the first time. The onetime thoughtful holiday letters have devolved into quick, iPhone-enabled snapshots, usually of a friend's children whom you don't know, and more recently to simply holiday e-mails and texts. Yet through Facebook, we feel as close to our lifelong friends and work colleagues as ever. My daughter and her boyfriend Skype or Facetime; forget letters. We move on.

Even so, there might be room in our garage for a box of old Christmas cards. But first, I'll have to clear away some of my Nokia phone and Palm Pilot gear from just a few years ago.

David Callaway is editor in chief of USA TODAY. His opinions are his own and do not reflect the views of the editorial page of USA TODAY.

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors.